What are you currently reading?

[JBS]

Supplementing the Grene/Lattimore translations and Penguin Classics editions already on my shelves

Plays and translators
Aeschylus:
Persians/James Romm
The Oresteia trilogy/Sarah Ruden
Prometheus Bound/James Romm
Sophocles:
Oedipus the King
Antigone
Electra
Oedipus at Colonus
All translated by Frank Nisetich
Euripides:
Alcestis/Rachel Kitzinger
Medea/Rachel Kitzinger
Hippolytus/Rachel Kitzinger
Electra/Emily Wilson
Trojan Women/Emily Wilson
Helen/Emily Wilson
Bacchae/Emily Wilson

[San Antone]

Looks like a fantastic anthology! And I had forgotten that I purchased it back in July, 2022.  Okay, now I need to get to it ...

[Jo498]

You all are making me want to read it. (FWIW, I have yet to make it all the way through Zauberberg, either... I find certain elements of the book "triggering" to my hypochondriac self, to the point that I wonder whether that wasn't absolutely Mann's intention  )

I should re-read Doktor Faustus as I read this only once when I was about 20 and I don't own a copy. I enjoyed Zauberberg far more when I re-read it in my late 20s and I'd have thought it more accessible because Faustus seems to rely more on both fairly specialist musical (and sometimes philosophical/theological) background as well as a curious mix of real people (thinly disguised) and fantasy in the interwar period.

Both are heavy lifting but the main candidates for Mann's opus magnum. I never got into the Joseph series...

[Mandryka]

My own memories of both Magic Mountain and Faustus is that they go on a bit, in lecture mode. All that Setembrini and Naptha crap is interminable. Peeperkorn's good, my role model, as is using Chauchat's X ray as porn for masturbation.  The thing which stuck in my mind most in Faustus is deliberately getting syphilis to . . . to . . . . not sure I understand why come to think of it.

But more to the point, what happens to Castorp in the snow? It could be relevant to a modern reading of Winterreise.

[Jo498]

"Schnee" is the most mysterious chapter of Zauberberg. The strange dream has some echoes of Nietzsche, I believe, and also of the painter Ludwig von Hofmann. 25 years ago I attended a seminar (only that one session because a friend of mine was giving the presentation) on this and I probably heard another talk about it but I don't remember the details. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Hofmann

(Mann had "Die Quelle" in his room)

There is too much lecture mode, yes, but it's also very atmospheric and often quite funny; Mann probably loses a bit in translation. He can be overly verbose but also wickedly funny, even in harmless things. In "Royal Highness" the female lead is a maths student (as was Mann's wife Katia) and there is a brilliant description how her lecture notes look to the clueless prince who is in love with her.

[Mandryka]

"Schnee" is the most mysterious chapter of Zauberberg. The strange dream has some echoes of Nietzsche, I believe, and also of the painter Ludwig von Hofmann. 25 years ago I attended a seminar (only that one session because a friend of mine was giving the presentation) on this and I probably heard another talk about it but I don't remember the details. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Hofmann

(Mann had "Die Quelle" in his room)

There is too much lecture mode, yes, but it's also very atmospheric and often quite funny; Mann probably loses a bit in translation. He can be overly verbose but also wickedly funny, even in harmless things. In "Royal Highness" the female lead is a maths student (as was Mann's wife Katia) and there is a brilliant description how her lecture notes look the clueless prince who is in love with her.

Yes, German Wikipedia is explicit about the connection between Die Quelle and Der Zauberberg, but doesn't spell it out or cite a reference in support of it.

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

The Hour of Our Death. Aries.

[SimonNZ]

The Hour of Our Death. Aries.

That's one I've wanted to read for a long while. Be interested to hear what you think of It

[JBS]

Yes, German Wikipedia is explicit about the connection between Die Quelle and Der Zauberberg, but doesn't spell it out or cite a reference in support of it.

This is Die Quelle, right?

[Jo498]

Mann owned the painting (apparently the original) and there are some descriptions of the arcadian vision Castorp has that seem like directly taken from several Hofmann pictures.
As I heard in a standard university seminar 25 years ago and it entered wikipedia it seems a fairly established position.
Less certain to me seems that the vision is connected to Nietzsche's Dionysian-Apollonian. But the general character is apollonian and the child sacrifice ritual as the dark secret can be seen as example of a mystery cult. Anyway, I am not quite sure about the whole point.

When I read it pre-interpretation I found the actual situation more interesting, that the healthy Castorp gets into a life-threatening situation "for fun" while skiing, compared to most of the other people in the sanatorium who are "dwelling in the shadow of death" because of their illness.
And then there is of course the idea that this whole civizilation despite/because? of its advancement and refinement in arts and sciences is running towards a Feast of Death (Weltfest des Todes), the Great War.

[DavidW]

The Hour of Our Death. Aries.

That has me intrigued.  Bought it, will hopefully read it sometime in the next few weeks.

[vandermolen]

Just finished reading this excellent and thought-provoking work given to me by a psychotherapist friend:

[Dry Brett Kavanaugh]

That's one I've wanted to read for a long while. Be interested to hear what you think of It

It's a re-read. The book is historical more than philosophical, and descriptive more than analytical. Many anecdotal stories with author's insights. This is not really for me, but it may be good for the people who enjoy reading historical stories.

[Papy Oli]

Finished Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce a couple of days ago.

It took me six months to reach halfway point...and under two weeks to finish it. Enjoyed would be too strong a word but it was challenging at times but interesting. Glad I persevered.

Now reading a lighter fare: Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club. 1st of a four-volume crime series set in a pensioners village. Fun, sarcastic and very English so far. Spielberg bought the rights for a movie (so far, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Helen Mirren and Celia Imrie have been cast as the four pensioners/sleuths).

This is possibly a palate cleanser before starting Ulysses on Bloomsday     

[DavidW]

Finished Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce a couple of days ago.

I had to read that in high school!

[Mandryka]

It's a re-read. The book is historical more than philosophical, and descriptive more than analytical. Many anecdotal stories with author's insights. This is not really for me, but it may be good for the people who enjoy reading historical stories.

Ah, I was hoping it would do for death what Foucault did for sex.

[Mandryka]

This is possibly a palate cleanser before starting Ulysses on Bloomsday     

Get yourself a secondary text to help with Ulysses - the one I used was by Harry Blamires - it's called The Bloomsday Book.

[Papy Oli]

I had to read that in high school!

Well, I am a late Bloom(er)... 

My High School/College French teachers turned reading an absolute boring chore for me. It wasn't until my mid-thirties that I started enjoying reading on and off, and again, only non-fiction, mostly linked in one way or another to Classical Music.

Fiction novels and the "classics" are a sadly big gap of mine 

[Papy Oli]

Get yourself a secondary text to help with Ulysses - the one I used was by Harry Blamires - it's called The Bloomsday Book.

Noted, Howard.
I read a few web pages about how to approach Ulysses, and a few said not to worry about a guide book and not to get too hung up about the bits one doesn't understand. Re-Read those bits if you want to or move on. Mainly focus on the journey and the humour in the book.

[Mandryka]

Noted, Howard.
I read a few web pages about how to approach Ulysses, and a few said not to worry about a guide book and not to get too hung up about the bits one doesn't understand. Re-Read those bits if you want to or move on. Mainly focus on the journey and the humour in the book.

The problem is that part of it is virtuoso parody writing, and it's fun to be aware of what he was parodying. And part of it is that the syntax is a bit strange at first, and so I found the guide could help me with that until I got the knack. It's worth having a guide on the shelf, I'm sure of it.  Having said that, these days you may find all you want on the web, I don't know -- the web didn't exist when I read it for the first time (shit -- getting old -- time for a drink.)

Is it worth the effort? I would say that Part 3 is the possibly my favourite part of anything I've ever read, in English or in French. For me, just incredibly touching and humane.